Channel 4 is to focus on mental health in families for the third season of anthology drama On the Edge.
Banijay label BlackLight Television’s 3 x 30-minute series will once again be penned and directed by emerging UK talent via the 4Stories initiative for disadvantaged writers and directors.
Told via a romantic comedy, a road trip and a horror, the third run will explore mental health through parent-child relationships.
Written by Samantha O’Rourke and directed by Nadira Amrani, episode one, Mincemeat, follows a young woman trying to cope with her controlling mother, who struggles with hoarding.
Superdad tells the story of a road trip between a father who is supposed to be in a psychiatric hospital and a son who is supposed to be in school. Daniel Rusteau is the writer and Theo Krekis is directing.
The final instalment, Cradled – penned by Nessah Muthy and directed by Chloe Wicks – is a horror story about a young mother experiencing a breakdown.
The drama demonstrates C4’s “avowed commitment to new talent both on and off-screen,” according to head of drama Caroline Hollick, giving audiences a “fresh, thrilling and heartfelt perspective on the effects of mental health within British families”.
This year’s anthology has been made with the support of Creative Wales and Directors UK.